Wij genieten van het gezelschap tijdens het feest.

we

Breakdown of Wij genieten van het gezelschap tijdens het feest.

• tijdens: during
• het gezelschap: the company
• het feest: the party
• genieten van: to enjoy

Questions & Answers about Wij genieten van het gezelschap tijdens het feest.

Why is van needed after genieten?

In Dutch, genieten (to enjoy) is typically followed by the preposition van. So you say genieten van iets (“to enjoy something”). Therefore, in this sentence you need van before het gezelschap.

Is Wij different from We?

Both wij and we mean we in English. Wij is the stressed form, used when you want to emphasize we as opposed to someone else. We is the unstressed form and is more common in regular speech. They’re essentially interchangeable, but wij puts extra emphasis on the subject.

Can I also say tijdens het feest at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes, you can move tijdens het feest to the beginning for emphasis on the time phrase: Tijdens het feest genieten wij van het gezelschap. Dutch word order is quite flexible when it comes to time and place expressions, as long as the verb placement rules remain consistent.

Why is it het gezelschap and het feest?

Both gezelschap (company/group of people) and feest (party) are neutral nouns in Dutch. That’s why they take the definite article het rather than de. You just have to memorize which words are de-words and which are het-words.